A good friend of mine, Geoff has strong ties to the area, having lived some of his life in the US Virgin Islands.

Even better, he’s pulling together supplies to send to the US Virgin Islands, and you can help!

If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can coordinate directly with him, he’s putting together pallets to be sent out to the islands. My wife and I will be contributing to at least one.

If you’re not in the San Francisco Bay Area, and you want to contribute to this effort, you could order to a store like Walmart, Target, or Sams in the Bay Area, and coordinate with Geoff to pick up (best to coordinate first to get a store closer to him).

I realize there are a lot of ways to support the recovery of so many areas ravaged this hurricane season. The thing about Geoff’s effort–other than the fact that he’s a friend–is the fact that he is essentially taking this on himself.

Three years ago today, Matt gave Joe Cortez and I an amazing opportunity to start Tagging Miles. Joe’s since went on to do bigger and better things with FlyerTalk, but he’ll always be part of the Tagging Miles family. So today, I thank you, our awesome readers, for 3 awesome years! It has been wonderful to be a part of the Saverocity team, to be a part of this incredible miles and points community, and to attempt to strike so many different balances between blogging, being a good steward of the community, and still having the time to travel (you might say, in style).

In what has become an annual navel gaze, I will say that in the past 3 years, we’ve had 431,816 views. I realize for the bigger blogs, this is probably not huge, but to me, it is absolutely incredible!

As I think the posts above indicate, the more popular posts seem to ironically be not so much about travel, but, other things in the miles, points, and reselling world. I’ll continue to keep spicing things up, but I am curious whether folks have enjoyed any particular writing trends over the past year. Please share your thoughts in the comments.

In honor of the 3 years of Tagging Miles, I’ve got a give away – 2 American Airlines Admirals Club passes. Just sign up to our new e-mail list, and leave a comment. I will randomly select the winner from the comments on 27 January.

Mark this as the Breaking News of the day. Virgin Atlantic continues to innovate with the Dreambird 1417. This new aircraft incorporates the latest technology for flying. Truly cutting edge technology called “Flapology.”

Virgin Atlantic Dreambird 1417, Credit: Virgin Atlantic

While Boeing has largely been viewed as the leader in innovative wing technology, what with their folding wingtips on the 777x, it sounds as if Virgin kept this development as an in-house affair.

The Virgin Atlantic Dreambird 1417

Sir Richard Branson introduced the breakthrough with the following statement:

Birds are the ultimate flying machine and it’s been a lifelong ambition of mine to harness their energy and apply it to a passenger aircraft. Engineers all over the world have been trying for years to mimic a bird in flight and thanks to the perseverance and dedication of the team at Virgin Atlantic, we’ve finally succeeded. Not only have we harnessed this but we’ve also created a faster, cleaner more self-sustaining aircraft. – Virgin Atlantic

The impressive aspect of the aircraft is the flapable wings. Just see for yourself in this video shared by Virgin Atlantic:

The wings constructed from Graphene, will not just propel the plane, but will also power many of the aspects of the aircraft, including lights, ovens, Inflight Entertainment, and will improve the overall passenger experience. The Dreambird 1417 won’t fly this year, unfortunately. You’ll have to wait until 2019, where the inaugural route will be London-Heathrow to Seattle.

Truly, the flapology of the Dreambird 1417 is revolutionary wing design. Its exciting to see an aircraft that can do what birds have been doing for millennia. Fantastically, Virgin continues to innovate, and break through barriers.

I’m just left wondering whether the Upper Class Suite will be new and improved, or will it remain as the herringbone seat on the Dreamliner?

The Swiss Army Knife that trumps all knives

The answer to all of your Banana Needs!

If previous funny Amazon Reviews were inadequate for you, perhaps this one will do. The Hutzler 571 Banana Slicer seems like the perfect Private Label item. If only Amazon hadn’t claimed all the credit for this private label and gotten amazing reviews for this Banana Slicer got (5,649 as of this writing!):

Wrapping Up – Funny Amazon Reviews

Hopefully this brief review of funny Amazon reviews gave you a bit of a laugh! That said, from the reselling angle, we have contemplated trying to find a good price on some of the above products… if anyone is looking for the 55 gallon drum of lubricant, well, I can tell you, it does not work well as a checked bag….. but it provides more than sufficient entertainment as the baggage handlers attempt to get it into the baggage hold via the conveyor belt… and the real fun, well, that’s when it comes out in the baggage claim. But perhaps that’s a story for another time!

Note: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline, or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. The owners of this website may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links and advertisements posted on this website. For more information, please see our Legal Notice.

This website uses cookies to personalize content and ads and to analyze traffic. Our ad partners may combine this information with other information you have provided them or that they've collected from your use of their services elsewhere. You consent to our cookies if you continue to use this website.OkNoRead more